Does it improve the sound of a MM or MI cartridge by playing it through a phono stage?

I just thought that since the Plinius regular output setting is 47K (I would think), and it has a high output position as well that I used in the past for the Van den hul.  

"Regular" I thought would be like a phono option on a typical receiver (I know that word is blasphemous here) the other is a higher output, but not sure of the load.

Will the Sutherland's 47K ohm setting sound similar? I guess if/when the situation arises I can try both. I just don't like opening up these boxes and fiddling around. Both are internal - Plinius I believe is a dip switch and the Sutherland has things that have to be removed and reinserted.

I am talking about the phono stage built into the Plinius. Would the Sutherland at 47K ohms sound any better than the Plinius' phono stage? Does it matter if it is a MC or MM/MI cartridge?

Sorry Wolfie - I guess a better phono stage is a better phono stage, even if they are both ideally matched to a MM/MI cartridge and have a 47K ohm impedance.

Maybe it doesn't make as big a difference as with a MC cartridge, or maybe it is assumed people who buy MMs don't want to spend $$ for a phono stage.

Then why does a cartridge have a recommended load impedence from a phono stage and so many phono stages have adjustments for that? And why don't I hear about cartridge internal resistance? 

I thought gain was more of a preference as to how loud and possibly distorted you want the signal to the preamp to be so you don't have to turn up the volume as much.

Thanks Lewm. I won't confused. You need to match the output of the cartridge with the resistance/impedence of the phono stage. I was thinking with a standard output MM cartridge, it wouldn't matter what phono stage you used as long as it operated or had a setting at 47K ohms. Gain of the phono stage is assumed to be adequate and not the issue (I don't think).

I don't think that is the case anymore - phone stages matter - even at the same specs..

Didn't see a post from Elliott on this discussion.

I think the Sutherland will sound better either way because it sounded WAY better with the Van den hul. I would have to switch it to low gain, but if I do this I would probably just use the Sutherland with the 47K load and 45dB gain.

In all likelihood, I will live without any fiddling around with the cartridge as VPI is saying they can turn around the cartridge service with VDH in 2 weeks including shipping, which I find extraordinary, but if it is specifically scheduled, I guess it is possible.

The settings on the phono stage are 100 ohms, 200, 1000, 10000, 47000. Not 100K. For my back up MC cartridge, if I do use it, I will select the 47K ohm setting for impedence and 50dB gain on my phono stage..

Sutherland has several in the lowish price points - $900, $1400, and $2200 (and several higher end up to I think $15K). All are considered great values compared to the competition and the $1400 and $2200 ones have reasonable priced options for a linear power supply. The $1400 insight can have a board swapped internally (and the power bridge) for only $350 - typically done when configured/built, but can be upgraded after the fact as I did after buying a used one (did it myself with the help of Ron Sutherland himself), and the 20/20 has an optional external LPS for $450. It is probably $100 more because of the extra box.

Most of all, Ron Sutherland is a great guy, willing to do anything to make his customers happy. Very down to earth and generous with his time. He spent time on the phone with me before, during and after the purchase (probably well over an hour in total, plus a few emails) for a $350 sale! -which was shocking and refreshing. I believe he is the only PS designer in the market with any kind of market share that is talked about by high end dealers. I heard in the past he has designed high end amps that are still sought after. He also was one of the founders of Martin Logan. He probably just does it for the fun of it now....